Toto Schillaci dead

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Sad loss, Toto was a great little player, full of passion and desire to win. He certainly lit up that Italian summer of 1990 with some dazzling displays and will always be remembered for it. Rest in Peace, Toto.
 
Gutted, he was a proper Roy of the Rovers type in my eyes, Came from obscurity to World Renown overnight.

His name has however brought back a fantastic memory for me and I was lucky enough to see him play and score.

Through being in the right place right time I went to World Cup in 1990.

For me it was the last World Cup that was affordable/attainable for the ordinary fan. After it went to the USA in 1994 it became a huge commercial vehicle and priced out for most fans. In Italia 90 Hotels were cheap, tickets for games were cheap and available

I had no plans to go out. I was living and working in Crawley where I still am with a lad from Dublin, Paul Brien who used to play for St Pats. We worked together and played football together in Sussex.

We were standing in a pub on a Thursday night watching the Ireland v Holland Group game. Niall Quinn scored a late equaliser for Ireland which meant they qualified for the knockout stages. My mate Paul was delirious. He says, “I want to go to their next game”. I said “What’s stopping you?”. He says, “nobody to go with”, I says, “I’ll come”.

Next morning in work (pre-Internet) we are on the phone trying to get flights. Ireland were going to be playing in Genoa against Romania on the Monday . The only (cheapest) flights we could get were on the Saturday morning to Milan.

“Boss, can we both take next week off to go to the World Cup”, “of course he says”.

Flew out of Gatwick to Milan the next and met up with a lad from Cork on the flight so he teamed up with us for a week

Met a load of Dutch fans on the Saturday evening and got tickets for Germany V Holland on the Sunday. Never realised how much the Dutch hate the Germans. This was the game where Rijkaard spat on Voller. Have to say after that incident I wanted Germany to win.

Next morning got the train (beautiful trains) to Genoa. Met Michael Robinson, QPR, Liverpool and Ireland player in a bar on the day of the game. He was working for Spanish TV. Lovely man sadly passed about 4 years ago. RIP

Brilliant atmosphere with the Romania fans who had the previous year overthrown dictator Ceaușescu and could now travel. David O’Leary scored the winning penalty. The real Hagi played in that game, he was a fantastic player.

Next day got the train Bologna and watched the England v Belgium game when David Platt scored a great goal.

We then had a couple of days being tourists on the Amalfi Coast which was fantastic.

Next stop Rome for the quarter final Ireland v Italy. Huge crowd and a 1-0 win for Italy where Toto Schillaci scored the winner.

For me this was a fantastic time for football, then along came Hands Off Hibs and ultimately our League Cup win against Dunfermline (and pumped the Huns in the semi).

This also started a Love affair with Italy for me, the place, the culture. Been back many times.

Found some photos of us drinking with Romania fans before the game

Brilliant time and a brilliant memory

RIP Toto
 

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Ifield Hibee said:
Gutted, he was a proper Roy of the Rovers type in my eyes, Came from obscurity to World Renown overnight.

His name has however brought back a fantastic memory for me and I was lucky enough to see him play and score.

Through being in the right place right time I went to World Cup in 1990.

For me it was the last World Cup that was affordable/attainable for the ordinary fan. After it went to the USA in 1994 it became a huge commercial vehicle and priced out for most fans. In Italia 90 Hotels were cheap, tickets for games were cheap and available

I had no plans to go out. I was living and working in Crawley where I still am with a lad from Dublin, Paul Brien who used to play for St Pats. We worked together and played football together in Sussex.

We were standing in a pub on a Thursday night watching the Ireland v Holland Group game. Niall Quinn scored a late equaliser for Ireland which meant they qualified for the knockout stages. My mate Paul was delirious. He says, “I want to go to their next game”. I said “What’s stopping you?”. He says, “nobody to go with”, I says, “I’ll come”.

Next morning in work (pre-Internet) we are on the phone trying to get flights. Ireland were going to be playing in Genoa against Romania on the Monday . The only (cheapest) flights we could get were on the Saturday morning to Milan.

“Boss, can we both take next week off to go to the World Cup”, “of course he says”.

Flew out of Gatwick to Milan the next and met up with a lad from Cork on the flight so he teamed up with us for a week

Met a load of Dutch fans on the Saturday evening and got tickets for Germany V Holland on the Sunday. Never realised how much the Dutch hate the Germans. This was the game where Rijkaard spat on Voller. Have to say after that incident I wanted Germany to win.

Next morning got the train (beautiful trains) to Genoa. Met Michael Robinson, QPR, Liverpool and Ireland player in a bar on the day of the game. He was working for Spanish TV. Lovely man sadly passed about 4 years ago. RIP

Brilliant atmosphere with the Romania fans who had the previous year overthrown dictator Ceaușescu and could now travel. David O’Leary scored the winning penalty. The real Hagi played in that game, he was a fantastic player.

Next day got the train Bologna and watched the England v Belgium game when David Platt scored a great goal.

We then had a couple of days being tourists on the Amalfi Coast which was fantastic.

Next stop Rome for the quarter final Ireland v Italy. Huge crowd and a 1-0 win for Italy where Toto Schillaci scored the winner.

For me this was a fantastic time for football, then along came Hands Off Hibs and ultimately our League Cup win against Dunfermline (and pumped the Huns in the semi).

This also started a Love affair with Italy for me, the place, the culture. Been back many times.

Found some photos of us drinking with Romania fans before the game

Brilliant time and a brilliant memory

RIP Toto
Click to expand...
Great story
 
Very sad and news and as been said no age at all.
I never saw him play for Juve but was lucky enough to see him play for the Azzurri against Czechoslovakia in the final game of the group stages in Italia 90.
I'd won a competition and took my brother with me. Could have picked any team Scotland were based in Genova and Italy in the capital . The thought of being in amongst the tartan army following the country of my birth was tempting but my father's blood inside me convinced my heart to choose Italy.
We were staying in the hotel King not far from the top of the Spanish steps along with other people from the UK who had won and chose Italy. Made friends with one of them called Mario who was born in Bedfordshire but didn't support England but Italy. There were also a couple there who had no interest whatsoever in football but chose Italy because they loved Rome.
Day of the match was an evening kick off. coach picked us up in afternoon took us to a beautiful old villa with frescoes on the walls and ceilings for an enormous buffet lunch (bit different from a burger an beer in the Percy on match day) then fought through the Rome traffic to get to the Olympico. The place was rockin' full house fantastic atmosphere. We'd already qualified but winning meant we topped the group and stayed in Rome.
It was a truly star studded italian team because at that time serie A was arguably the best league in the world (the 3 foreigners rule applied). Guys like Baresi,Ancelloti,a ridiculously young Paolo Maldini to name but a few. Up the sharp end Roberto Baggio and the man with the Sicilian eyes Toto` Schillaci. Great game whichwe won2-0 with Schillaci scoring the first with a beautiful header only to be outdone by a beautiful goal from Baggio. There was a massive full moon that night like really big and I think the entire population of Rome spilled out onto the streets, needless to say we didn’t bothered with the coach to get back to the hotel I think the driver would have abandoned it anyway and took the night off.
So grazie mille Toto' for a special night and a beautiful memory God be with you and pass your strength and courage on to your family.
Riposa in pace.❤️🇮🇹Screenshot_20240919_221434_Chrome.jpg
 
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